The latest data from Tencent QQ: Internet interest report of post-95s!

Since those born after 1995 began to become the target of the Internet marketing industry, research on the characteristics of the post-95 generation has sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Because product people are well aware of the importance of positioning and users, if they cannot deeply understand the post-95s generation, it will be difficult to make products that attract their attention.

Therefore, we organized exchange camps for young people in six cities across the country, where we conducted in-depth exchanges with more than 50 young people born after 1995, eating and living together for two days and one night. The more young people have in-depth exchanges, the more they can feel that the social circles of those born after 1995 are just "small circles" that gather together for various interests.

Those born after 1995 gather into circles because of their interests, such as the cosplay circle, military fan circle, Japanese comic circle, Japanese style circle, antique circle, etc. From the perspective of people outside the circle, people in the circle are so special and incomprehensible. However, people in the circle think that this is a normal thing, and they are more inclined to agree with it within the circle rather than outside the circle. Precisely because of the self-indulgent interest circles of those born after 1995, it is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to design products and marketing plans for them, and they may easily get the goals and targets wrong if they are not careful. If the goals and targets are wrong, it will be difficult for products and marketing to be successful.

Although we have come into contact with many post-95s and their various interest circles through Tencent QQ New Youth Exchange Camp. But I still can’t say how well I understand the interests of those born after 1995. Only through repeated communication, analysis and discussion with them, can we summarize a few key words of the interests of post-95s, namely: more, deeper, specialized and money.

There are many interest groups, and the circle contempt chain is everywhere

Before participating in the Tencent QQ New Youth Exchange Camp, I thought that the ACG world was the interest of many people born after 1995. After all, I have watched Naruto and should be able to talk to these people born after 1995. In the first game in Guangzhou, I was looked down upon by those born after 1995. A beautiful lady named Xiaoru said righteously: I am not from the second dimension, I am not a paper man, I am a cosplayer. It made me realize that in the eyes of some people born after 1995, the cosplay circle and the two-dimensional world are two different things.

*Paper man: usually refers to anime characters.
*coser: usually refers to people who do cosplay (role-playing).

Xiaoliang who likes LoveLive!* also looked down on me implicitly: I look down on those people who only watch the popular comics like Naruto and One Piece and think they know a lot about Japanese comics. We and the popular comics are from two different circles. Later, Jiaqi, who is also a LoveLiver from Shenyang, told me: I like Suiduan, and the one you are talking about should be the one who likes μ's. We are not from the same circle.

We have made an incomplete summary of the two-dimensional interest circles of some post-95 young people who participated in the exchange camp. Compared with the professional market research perspective, there is still a big gap. However, based on the post-95s we have come into contact with, the so-called two-dimensional circle is really too large and too complicated. We are now simply dividing it in the form of labels to let everyone feel the diversity of the interest circles of post-95s.

*LoveLive!: usually refers to a rhythm card mobile game "LoveLive! School Idol Festival" featuring a beautiful girl group. Fans of this game call themselves LoveLiver.

From the communication with those born after 1995, it can be seen that the more segmented the interest circle, the easier it is to find common topics and the greater the sense of identity. Although the post-95 young people in the exchange camp behaved very well, the existence of a chain of contempt between interest circles could still be clearly felt during private conversations. For example, Japanese anime despises Chinese anime, the everyday anime circle despises the civilian anime circle, the Idolmaster fans despise the LoveLive! fans, and then there are all kinds of reverse contempt between circles, and they despise each other. People in every circle would rather maintain their own individuality and not be magnified or generalized and become the person they despise. Such increasingly segmented interests have led to more and more interest circles. This is also the reason why cosplayers like Xiaoru don’t want to be labeled as a cosplayer in the second dimension.

*Pingongman: In a broad sense, it refers to popular and long-form Japanese anime works that are well-known worldwide. The three most typical ones are "Naruto", "One Piece" and "Bleach".

Many identities, early contact and affordable

Yi Qi from Hangzhou is a typical representative of multiple identities. Yi Qi has so many identities that at first we couldn’t believe that he could have so many different interests. Yiqi, who works as an original artist, likes anime and cosplay. He is a console and handheld game player. He is a member of the LGD team in the DOTA game. He is a guitarist and has formed a band with his friends. He is also a member of the Zhejiang Tank Association.

These numerous interests correspond to Yiqi's different interest circles and identities, and each identity has a different group of friends. For example, in the anime circle there is a fat otaku in his dormitory, who often wears a LoveLive! character cape, puts his fingers next to his ears, and shouts niconiconi; and his tank model circle is full of uncles and grandpas, one of whom is an old man in his 70s. Yiqi can adapt to his identity well in different circles. Among the post-95s we have come into contact with, it is common for students like Yiqi to have multiple interest circles. For example, a girl in Chengdu nicknamed 70 is also involved in extreme sports, photography, music, fan fiction, animation, cosplay and other fields, and she seems to be quite good at them.

After analyzing the reasons why those born after 1995 have multiple identities, we found that the early start of their interests is a key factor in their ability to form multiple identities. Those born after 1995 have been exposed to all kinds of fun things at an early age. For example, Yiqi went to Japan when he was in middle school and came into contact with all kinds of interesting things, such as Japanese comics, cosplay, figures, and PS console games.

Being able to afford to have fun is another important reason why those born after 1995 have many identities. Those born after 1995 caught up with the opportunity of China's economic take-off. Compared with those born after 1985, their family financial situation is much better. They can try many things that those born after 1985 could not afford. Many people born after 1995 whom we met are interested in photography and music. Many of them own SLR cameras, which are known as the third generation of poverty. Xiaoran, a beautiful girl in Shenyang who likes photography, owns a SLR camera worth more than 8,000 yuan and several expensive lenses.

With the rapid development of the Internet, information is becoming more and more diversified and online social networking is becoming more popular. Interests will become more and more segmented, and each segmented interest area can gather people with similar interests into a circle with the help of social networks . As economic levels continue to improve and consumption continues to upgrade, young people in the future will be exposed to different interests earlier and have the financial ability to participate in different interests. Having multiple interests (multiple circles, multiple identities) will be a trend in the future.

Time investment is deep, catch up with the new episodes of the year

Xiaohao from Hangzhou is an anime fanatic who started to dabble in anime in the second grade of junior high school. The first one was Naruto, and then I started watching normal anime*, the first one was "Is This a Zombie?" After that, I couldn't stop myself and spent a lot of time every day chasing anime. At most, I could watch 20 hours a day. The most exaggerated thing is that in 2015, because his university courses were not tight, Xiaohao watched all the new anime on Bilibili that year. The popular words among the post-95s generation, such as "burning liver" and "cultivating immortals", are just another way of expressing that they are willing to invest time in their interests.

*Fanju: refers to Japanese animated series, usually referred to as "Fan".

I have invested a lot of money, I don’t buy clothes for a year just for the figurines

Jiaqi from Shenyang is a very loyal LoveLive! fan. He only plays LoveLive! games and collects LoveLive! figures. For the sake of LoveLive! games and figures, Jiaqi had only 10 yuan a day for living expenses at school, did not buy any clothes for a year, lived frugally, and spent more than 10,000 yuan on LoveLive! games and figures.

Deep emotional investment, the server is my wife

In Beijing, we met Xiaohan, who treated his server as his wife. Because of his interest, Xiaohan no longer just plays games, he also operates the games himself. Xiaohan bought a server to play games***. He took us to his home, where we saw his small bedroom. There was a server in the corner on the left side of the door. Next to the server was a table with three monitors and other equipment needed for live streaming . Next to the table was his bed, close to the window. The server needs to be turned on 24 hours a day and makes a loud noise when running, "it feels like someone is always running a hair dryer." For the sake of the game, Xiaohan invested almost all of his time, energy, money and even emotions (he treated the server as his wife, how could he not have feelings for it?) into it.

When communicating with young people born after 1995, many of them said: I don’t want to buy a house anymore, I can’t afford it no matter what. But there is no need to worry about daily consumption since you can afford it anyway. Perhaps it is this general social trend that makes those born after 1995 willing to invest time and money in their interests. For them, interest is not only companionship and motivation, but also an emotional investment and support.

In fact, depth and specialization complement each other. Because of deep investment, there will be professional level and professional output. As Yiqi mentioned above, he spent a lot of time and energy on tank models because of his deep investment. Therefore, he has already reached a very professional level in the tank model circle and has become a member of the provincial tank association. An unprocessed tank model costs more than 5,000 yuan, but after being modified by him and his friends in the Tank Association, it is no problem for the value to increase to 20,000 yuan. In addition, film and television companies often rent Yiqi's models to shoot movies .

Xiaoran, a beautiful bassist in Shenyang who loves taking photos, is also very good at taking photos. Her time-lapse photography works have received tens of thousands of hits on Weibo. Classmates at school often ask her for help taking photos. Since there are so many people asking her to take photos, she charges students outside the class, but it still can't stop the enthusiasm of students. Many people pay her to take photos, including the school cos club.

Many people born after 1995 have already achieved cutting-edge and professional results in some niche fields. Xiaorou from Beijing is a girl, but she has considerable influence in the military uniform industry. The military uniforms she designed and modified are sought after by many military fans, even foreign military fans. She sold the military uniforms on Taobao and easily earned more than five figures.

There are already many examples of people willing to spend money for their interests. Xiaohan, who treats the server as his wife, once said: What you use to make money may not be your interest, but you will definitely waste money for your interest!

We met Jiaqi, who spent tens of thousands of dollars on LoveLive! even though she was saving money, and Xiaosun, a second-generation rich man from Shanghai who bought a pair of sneakers for 100,000 yuan but never wore them and is now collecting them. Among the more than 50 young people born after 1995 that we met, almost all of them have spent money on their interests to a greater or lesser extent, such as game recharges, attending anime exhibitions, buying cosplay costumes, and traveling. Even a Guangzhou native born after 1995 who basically does not participate in online social networking has spent a lot of money on charitable causes that interest him.

Many people born after 1995 are willing to spend money on their interests, and this is not just because their families are well off. More importantly, they can also make money through various channels . As Xiao Sun, a rich second-generation from Shanghai, said: Family money belongs to the family, and you can spend the money you earn more freely. Perhaps the fundamental reason why they are willing to spend money on their interests is that they can make money.

There are many ways for those born after 1995 to make money. Some people born after 1995 use their hobbies to make money to support their hobbies. For example, a prince born after 1995 whom I met in Chengdu made money through LOL competitions and proxy training to buy gaming equipment and recharge gaming points. Prince can earn four to five thousand yuan from playing games in a semester, mainly from competition prize money and income from playing for others. Among them, competition prize money is about three thousand yuan, and income from playing for others is one to two thousand yuan.

Some people also make money through other channels to support their interests. For his hobby of tank models, Yiqi has worked as a public security patrolman, Starbucks waiter, computer salesman, art teacher... various part-time jobs. Hai Ruo from Shenyang works part-time as a public account writer for a company to pursue his musical dream.

The interests of young people born after 1995 are becoming more and more segmented, and the result of continuous segmentation is the formation of independent interest circles. Many times, companies do not understand the various circles or for the sake of simplicity, they tend to simply merge many circles together, put a big label on them, and then design products or marketing plans based on this label.

For example, we often hear many companies claim that their products or marketing activities are targeted at the two-dimensional world. But the so-called two-dimensional users don't buy it. This may be because these companies do not know that the two-dimensional world is a very large category, and there are many very different interest groups within it. Moreover, there is a chain of contempt in many interest groups. No one wants to become the one they despise, or be labeled and classified into the same category as those they despise. Like the coser Xiaoru we mentioned above, according to the usual definition, cosplay should also be two-dimensional, but Xiaoru despises comics, and she is unwilling to be classified in the same category as paper people (comics), which are collectively referred to as two-dimensional.

For example, if we are organizing marketing activities or developing products for daily fans of Japanese anime figures, we should not label them with general labels such as 2D. Real fans of Japanese anime and figures will think that this has nothing to do with us and won’t even look at it. Some non-figure fans are occasionally attracted to it, but it doesn’t help the activities and products at all (note: if you want to convert new users, the target users should not be existing users in the beginning).

Therefore, when our company is developing products and conducting marketing, we should not easily label users with general labels. We must calm down and study the interest circles of our target users, label them with labels they recognize, use their usual terms (common words in interest circles), and do what they often do.

Many small interest circles do not have big Vs in the traditional sense. For example, LoveLive! has a lot of fans in China (more than 4 million game users). It would be very difficult to find a traditional big V in China who can influence these millions or even just hundreds of thousands of people. However, many different small circles under LoveLive! have their own KOLs. The influence of these KOLs may be limited to this small circle, but they can indeed influence a group of people.

For example, LoveLiver Jiaqi whom we met in Shenyang is the KOL of the LoveLive! figure circle (commonly known as "big brother" in the two-dimensional circle). He has collected a lot of figures himself, and he knows Japanese so he can get the latest first-hand LoveLive! Figure information. Therefore, he has a high influence in the LoveLive! figure circle. Although Jiaqi seems to be introverted and not good at speaking, he can influence the sales of a figure within a certain range in the LoveLive! figure circle. When new figures are released, many figure collectors will ask for his opinion. Is this figure worth buying? How is the workmanship? Will it be cut off?

This kind of KOL can be found everywhere in the gaming circle, such as the leaders of gaming unions and organizations. Their words may be more influential than the activities carefully planned by game operators . Some time ago, when I was playing Naruto, there was an activity to capture a fortress. The leader of the organization gave an order, "This time, you must capture the fortress well, and each person will receive a combat power bonus of 500 gold coins." So dozens of people in the organization spent gold coins to increase their combat power.

Many times we don’t have the ability to find a big V who can influence many niche circles. So, when you can’t find a suitable big V or celebrity, can you consider KOLs in a small circle?

People born after 1995 are willing to invest time, money and emotion in their interests, and are willing to do something for their interests. Previously, we visited a beautiful college student in Shenzhen who volunteered to promote table football. Because of her passion for tabletop football and the fact that there aren't many people around her who play the game, she often pays for her own transportation and goes around promoting tabletop football with her Tabletop Football Association buddies.

There is a Lao Lai from Guangzhou in our exchange camp who is passionate about charity. She has also contributed a lot to her charity. Event planning , promotion and organization are all voluntary. Not only does she spend a lot of time, she also often pays for charity activities out of her own pocket. When asked why she was so devoted, she just said, "This is my interest. If I don't do something for my interest, it can't be called an interest."

Those born after 1995 are willing to do something for their interests. Can we provide platforms and opportunities for them to do something for their interests? For example, Hai Ruo, a beautiful guitarist from Shenyang who is very passionate about music, created an original song but lacked channels for publication and dissemination. After going through multiple platforms, Hai Ru finally chose NetEase Cloud Music to publish his songs. Can we provide some channels and opportunities so that people born after 1995 like Hai Ruo can do something for their own interests?

In addition, most of those born after 1995 are still in school and have limited abilities and experience. Sometimes it may be a good choice for companies to directly do something for their interests.

Those born after 1995 are willing to spend money on their interests and can also make money. But different ways of making money have different effects on the continuation, deepening and expansion of their interests. From the post-95s we have come into contact with, we believe that making money from hobbies to nurture interests is more conducive to the continuation, deepening and expansion of their interests than nurturing interests through other channels.

When we were in Chengdu, we met Junkang, who loved hiking. He would travel for one to two months every summer vacation. In five years, he traveled the Yunnan-Tibet line twice, the Sichuan-Tibet north-south line once each, and the Qinghai-Tibet line three times. Even hiking requires a lot of money. Junkang's travel expenses mainly come from the handmade accessories he made during the travel and postcards made from the photos he took. Junkang also lamented that if he had to rely on other part-time jobs to earn money for travel, he would still travel, but he probably wouldn't be able to travel so far or so many times.

Most of those born after 1995 have not yet entered the workplace or have just entered the workplace, and do not have a steady income to contribute to their interests (even if they have a steady income after working in the workplace for a period of time, they will have other life needs). Therefore, whether they can get money to invest in their interests directly affects the development and survival of the interests themselves. Allowing the post-95s generation to earn money from their interests and then spend it on their interests to form a closed loop is particularly important for a virtuous cycle of their interests. If we have a platform or model that can form a closed loop between the interests of post-95s in terms of money, then companies can successfully hold on to post-95s in various interests.